The Lost Son
by Imperator Rex
Summary: Cast adrift, a baby is found and changes the Galaxy.
1. Crash Landing

_Well here we are. This idea hit me couple of days ago and it wouldn't leave. With that it's time to throw my proverbial hat into this rather crowded ring. Hope you all enjoy the result._

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The origins of the man known to history as Commander Shepard are simultaneously the most well known and most mysterious part of his most extraordinary tale. The facts themselves are not in dispute but the questions they raise most definitely are.

Here is what we know; on April 1st 2155 upon the newly colonised world of Mindoir (A far cry from the modern Mindoir, or Humanity's Second Home as it's often referred to) the small handful of residences were woken in the small hours by an almighty crash. Some feared some sort catastrophic accident at the Colony landing zone, others, noting the date, suspected a student prank. As it turned out it was neither. Barely a few hundred meters from the colony, on what had once been a field of corn now lay a vast, smoking crater. The reaction of the pyjama clad colonists was varied, some cursed the sudden wake up call, some were relieved at what looked to be a near miss and others could only stare. As the discussion continued two of their number crept towards the edge of the crater. The young couple had not gone more than a few steps before they cried out "There's something in the crater!"

What followed was an understandable, but ill advised, charge by over half the colony to see what it was. The couple had a head start but before long the source of interest was surrounded by curious onlookers.

 _The First thing I remember was the smell; burnt metal through the smoky haze. It was almost overpowering, several others pulled back unable to stomach it but my curiosity was piqued. As the debris in the air began to clear I saw flashes of silver, took me a few seconds to work out that was indeed metal. I'm no expert but I've never seen an alloy like it. Whatever shape it was before the crash it was totally unrecognisable, but it was somehow all still in one piece. Then right at the heart of it, I saw him._

Interview of Engineer Derek Jackson _The Star Chronicle_ 7th April 2155, extract from 'The Miracle Baby of Mindoir' article.

Though the exact timing is a matter of some debate, by far the most popular version of the story is that the young couple who first looked into the crater were also the first to see the baby boy. He, as all versions agree, was completely uninjured and appeared utterly undeterred by his crash landing or the crowd of people around him. Indeed he was preoccupied, as so many other babies are, by gnawing on his foot.

After the initial surprise wore off some colonists were reluctant to go any closer to tangled metal mess, to most however retrieving the baby, and getting him checked by a medic, was top priority. The Medic in question, Dr. Kate Lang, was already on scene and carried the squirming baby back to clinic. She noted later that this rather difficult, in part because the rest of the crowd followed her all the way, but also the baby was unusually strong. Once she finally made it to her station, and forced everyone to wait outside, she got to work. She remained in her clinic for the rest of the night.

When Dr Lang re-emerged the next the next morning, she looked, as one observer put it, 'like someone who had been shaken to their very core'. When asked by the anxious members of the crowd if the baby was alright she replied,

"He's fine, he's perfectly fine,"

And then, almost to herself, but repeated so often afterwards, she said,

"He _is_ perfect."

The full ramifications of that statement would not be known to the general public for another fifteen years.

Nevertheless the unexplained and somewhat miraculous arrival of the baby to the quiet colony provoked considerable media interest. Thankfully for him, and quite possibly the whole galaxy, his adopted parents proved exceptionally tenacious in their defence of his privacy, and ensured that he had as normal an upbringing as possible. For it was the young couple that first found him, George and Indira Shepard, who decided to take the baby in. Dr Lang had confirmed that her own DNA scans showed that the baby had no known relatives, though she took great care to avoid going into details. Without any biological links to go on the matter was settled, at least in practical terms, fairly quickly. Of course that did not stop the press; however with baby's new legal guardians both being ex military (that was how they met) with distinguished service records and, if the rumours were true, a considerable number of 'souvenirs' from their former career path, most journalists kept a sensible distance.

Even without access however the interest remained. Articles and theories by the thousand were written. In an era before first contact was made, at least with living aliens rather than Prothean remains, theories around alien abductions and experimentation on humans were common. Others pointed to virtually every major Government, Military, Black ops (both real and nonexistent) and Business group in an attempt to explain the strange story. These arguments have persisted ever since.

When the headline broke that George and Indira Shepard were given full legal custody and had chosen to name their new son Alexander, an online poll was commissioned as to what the baby's name ought to be instead. Perhaps unsurprisingly the winning answer was 'Superman'. 'Clark Kent' was a close second. This joke would persist for many years, so much so that when a ten year old Alex Shepard met the CEO of DC Comics, after winning a writing contest, the businessman jokingly threatened to sue him for copyright infringement. Shepard, in equally light-hearted manner, replied that would pay that bill by putting all his brainpower into becoming a writer for Marvel. The CEO, having read the boy's work, immediately backed down.

Little did anyone realise at the time how close this joke was to reality.

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	2. Growing Up

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Alexander Shepard's early life was remarkable in that, unlike much of his future, it was almost normal. His parents' desire to keep away from the public eye was largely successful. Dr Lang's medical findings had not been discovered, largely thanks to the Doctor omitting them from official files, keeping only one pen and paper record of all her remarkable discoveries. While the young Alexander was never exactly forgotten his mysterious origin quickly faded into the background of this rapidly changing era of Galactic history. There was also a considerable degree of speculation that the entire thing had been a hoax or a publicity stunt. For the mainstream media and most of the general public, with no additional information forthcoming, they quickly lost interest in this 'old news'.

Online discussion was not so easily distracted. Constant conspiracies revolved around Alexander Shepard, where even the most obscure fact or photo led to incredibly detailed theories. When one article mentioned in passing that among the wreckage was found a small pendent shaped into a double headed eagle within a day it lead the theory that the young Shepard was the rightful Tsar of Russia. This particular rumour gained considerable traction within Russia itself, much to the irritation of the surviving Romanov family. Many years later Emily Wong asked Alex Shepard about these theories, he admitted that he'd read all of them. 'The Tsar story was always my favourite' he said in that now famous interview, the eagle pendent visible around neck.

In any case even the most hardened Shepard conspirators found their discussions muted (at least temporarily) two years after his dramatic arrival. Humanity's first contact with living, sentient aliens erupted into the First Contact War. When the first news reports hit Shepard, now a toddler, playing in the living room while his parents anxiously watched turned and said,

"The new age begins."

While George and Indira were surprised by their two year old son's first complete sentence if there was one thing they were learning it was to expect the unexpected. Dr Lang had kept a close watch on the young family and had become firm friends and a confidant for the new parents. With her help they were somewhat prepared for dealing with their unique adopted son, though none of them could truly know what they were in for.

The first visible sign of this was growth; Alexander had already been considerably above average size when found (Dr Lang believed the baby could be, at most, only two months old) and seemed only to accelerate as the boy grew older. Clothing tended to last no more than a month before they became too small. This growth was matched by appetite; Alexander's consumption was such that it became something of family joke for his parents to say that was just as well he was an only child, otherwise they'd have to sell the house to cover the food bill. As it was by his 10th Birthday Alex Shepard was taller than his mother and nearly matching his father. When others noted his height Shepard's childhood response was always the same;

"I'm still shorter than my brothers."

It is not unusual for a human child to have imaginary friends, or indeed an imaginary sibling but Shepard seemed to have no less than eighteen distinct brothers. Unlike many imaginary friends he did not play them as normal children do but saw only in his dreams. These dreams would also occasionally turn to nightmares, his parents claimed it was the only time they ever saw their son afraid. When they asked him about it he would only say it was 'The Four' and then refused to discuss it further.

During his school days he wrote a number of stories and made several pieces of art about his supposed brothers and their home. While his teachers praised his skill, as always, they did describe some of this work as 'disturbing'. One painting in particular which Alex called 'The Eye of Terror' caused such an adverse reaction among several of his classmates, who claimed they saw monsters, that in the end his art teacher incinerated it.

This pattern of undeniable brilliance mixed with extreme controversy would repeat itself throughout Alex Shepard's education and beyond. His intellect was far beyond his classmates and soon became far beyond his teachers. Countless times the young Alex would ask a question that would either drag everyone off on a tangent or baffle the rest of the room. Any attempt to dodge or dismiss such questions failed against the young Shepard's relentless drive for knowledge. Before long most teachers decided that the best thing to do was to let the student research the answer independently. Whilst he did do all his proscribed work it quickly apparent became that he tired of subjects very quickly and would increasingly do his own topics. These personnel projects he mostly kept to himself, hidden inside his parents' garden shed (now on display in the Shepard Museum) which his parents wisely decided would be far safer than his bedroom. Although arguments about the skyrocketing electricity bill would continue until Alex Shepard built his own generator at the age of eleven. The practical results would be seen repeatedly in the future.

In sport Alex Shepard's size was matched by his speed. Any team sport with Shepard onside meant the result was a foregone conclusion. Remarkably his control was such that no one ever suffered any injuries (accidental or otherwise) even in full contact sports where he was twice the size of every other player on the field. Indeed his conduct throughout his childhood and teenage years was always very controlled. Many teachers feared that such a gifted but easily distracted boy could have been a source of infinite trouble. With his size and strength some also worried about him being a bully. Instead they found a polite, if somewhat distant boy and, whilst he did occasionally threaten his classmates with violence it was always either provoked or in defence of someone else. Many of his psycho-biographers take note of this and theorise that Shepard's own differences made him far more sympathetic others being singled out. Ultimately Shepard was well aware of his own uniqueness, and managed to get all the known information he could from his parents and Dr Lang by his early teenage years but, as the Doctor later admitted:

 _After Shepard finally read through my private notes, still only thirteen at the time, he looked only frustrated. He looked up at me with those piercing grey eyes and said,_

 _"_ _I make no sense. I should be impossible and yet here I am."_

 _I could offer no explanation and very little comfort. I could only agree with him._

 _He sat in silence for a long time afterwards and eventually said,_

 _"_ _All I know is that I was created with science so advanced it may as well be magic and the only thing that comes close to an explanation is... even more impossible."_

 _I knew he was referring to his dreams of course, George and Indria had both confided in me and we had speculated about them, though never drawing to a satisfactory conclusion._

 _That now famous look of determination returned to him in an instant._

 _"_ _I will have answers."_

The Official Alexander Shepard Biography, Chapter 3.

The phrase "I will have answers" summed up the legendary commander in many ways. As a boy and as a man he was relentlessly logical. If anything did not make sense he would learn everything until it did. Teachers who attempted to brush off questions with vagueness or half answers were met with Shepard's irritation, followed by meticulous research and corrections. This could to be root of his most controversial trait; his utter contempt for religion.

Though Shepard, with some irony, often declared that he 'hated the sin not the sinner' his attitude towards faith was incredibly critical. Some have argued that it was simply a result of his deeply scientific mind. Others suggested that it may have been some personnel encounter, though any speculation on this path has no evidence to back it up. Others have pointed to his dreams. When asked Shepard often claimed that, "Religion has destroyed so much, I have seen it". Was he simply referring to his historical knowledge or something else? If the answer was from his dreams it shall unfortunately remain forever a mystery to us.

Whatever the reason, his belief that religion was, in his bluntest words, 'the ultimate plague on civilisation' caused no end of conflict, even amongst those who fought alongside him. Several Religions openly declared him to be sent by the devil (or similar variations thereof) and would be a thorn in his side throughout his life. It was then perhaps all the more galling to Shepard when he himself became the icon of his own Religion many years later.

As for his own beliefs Shepard's stated that there was truth in the universe and it was simply a matter of discovering them. Although he often added that his use of the word 'simply' was something of an understatement. It was for these reasons that lead Shepard to spend much of his teens in a self imposed seclusion, not in itself unusual for a teenager perhaps, but his desire to know who he was, what he was and where he really came from became an obsession. His parents and Dr Lang had provided him with some information on his origins but they in turn led to more questions and his mind would not let such an important mystery go.

Yet in this search for answers Alexander Shepard, as he later admitted, came no closer to discovering his creation than the conspiracy theorists had before him. Many have argued that Alex may well have spent the rest of his life investigating the question of his existence had not outside events intervened...

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	3. The Raid

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The raid, or rather the attempted raid, upon Mindoir was the unofficial beginning of Alexander Shepard's military career. Compared to the battles of his later life this was only a minor Skirmish but for the people of his home colony it was the defining moment of their world. It is no surprise that every year since the end of the Reaper War Mindoir has celebrated the anniversary as a planetary holiday. This is despite the lack of a universally accepted name. 'Shepard Day' as it is colloquially known was repeatedly and loudly vetoed by Shepard himself for marginalising the others who fought for their home. Out of respect of these wishes 'Shepard Day' is not officially used but no alternative title has yet caught on.

The history of that famous day is well known but for the sake of clarity we will repeat it once more. On June 15th 2070 (standard Earth time) a loose coalition of pirates and slavers, bankrolled, armed and given tacit approval by the Batarian Hegemony's Government launched an assault upon Mindoir. This was not unprecedented; Humanity's expansion into the Skyllian Verge, with political support from the Citadel Council, was met with a furious response from the Batarians. Already a Rouge State the Hegemony resorted to raids upon Human Colonies in an effort to drive out Human colonists and secure territory which they believed was theirs. The Mindoir raid was therefore simply the latest in a spate of attacks.

With one, slight exception.

While the true source of this request would remain unknown for many years it appears that Pirate force were well aware of Alexander Shepard and had been ordered to capture him, alive if possible. To that end a squad was sent in advance of the attack to quietly seize him from his home. This turned out to be a mistake.

 _"_ _I was only a raw recruit at the time you understand. It was my first colony raid. My orders were clear; keep all four of my eyes open in case anyone interfered while the Krogan, Crarg I think his name was, seized this human. That bastard was one of the largest of his kind I'd ever seen, before or since, and twice as bad tempered. Most of us were in this for profit or adventure, he just liked the violence. According to our Intel this Juvenile target spent most of his time in a small out building away from the main house. We approached under cover and saw the lights inside. At that Crarg marched straight up, kicked the door down and charged inside. A few seconds later he returned, carried by this... person. I couldn't see the face of this... human I supposed, it was obscured by a tangled mass of brown hair, but I could see Crarg's face. His helmet had been torn off and it was covered in blood. The Human then raised that groaning Krogan above his head and slammed our best fighter down onto his knee. I could hear the spine break from thirty feet away. Then that broken body was hurled at our squad leader. None of us, I think, noticed that the pins had been removed from the Krogan's grenades. After the explosion I decided to run. Smartest decision I ever made."_

Interview Extract from 'The 1st Battle of Mindoir' by Trevor Hugh-Roper. Interviewee Ralla Creb'nalor, Minister of Trade for the Batarian Freehold.

After this initial attack failed the general alarm was immediately raised by Shepard's Parents. By this point every human colony had been drilled to deal with Pirate Raids. The strategy was simple enough; bunker down into a specially built Safe House in the colony's centre and wait for a Systems Alliance Fleet to arrive. Unfortunately by this point Bartarian Raiders also knew these procedures and adopted far more stealthy tactics when launching such attacks. But the botched kidnapping of Shepard had robbed them of the element of surprise. By the time their main assault began most of the Colonists were already in the Safe House and manning the defences.

Alexander was not amongst them. He was nowhere to be seen.

Many who know only the basic stories of Shepard make the mistake of believing him to be invincible. That he could charge into battle and crush all in his path without arms or armour, always emerging victorious without a scratch. But for all his strength and endurance what made Shepard such a dangerous enemy was his mind. On Mindoir he wore no armour, nor did he carry a biotic shield. His only weapon was a shotgun (currently exhibiting in the Imperial War Museum, London) taken from the Krogan Mercenary who had so rashly tried to capture him. Knowing the weakness of this situation the sixteen year old showed his tactical acumen by using speed and his own knowledge of the colony's layout to ambush and eradicate the pirates squad by squad as they converged on all sides toward the Safe House.

Although the exact details were a mystery, even to Shepard (who admitted that he was mostly running on adrenaline and could only remember flashes) many details have been pieced together since. Shepard's strikes were unpredictable; some groups avoided attack (for a time) while others got picked off one by one or wiped out completely. Weaponry was improvised; the Shotgun and its' limited ammunition were augmented with construction tools, improvised explosives and his own bare fists. Demolition and Heavy Weapon Specialists were the first to be eliminated. Those that tried to hold defensive positions were flushed out into the open. Shepard even seemed to deliberately allow enemies to see his attacks, allowing panic to spread and lure the undisciplined pirates into clustering in large groups, often within the firing arcs of the Colony Safe House.

If Shepard's tactical knowledge was impressive his determination to save the colony was nothing short of remarkable. While many Colonists had been given enough warning many others found themselves stranded behind enemy lines. Witness after witness that day reported being trapped and, in some cases, dragged screaming towards the ships only to find their would-be captors suddenly slaughtered around them. It was only after the battle that most of these rescued people realised who was responsible. Only two people had any interaction at all with Shepard during their rescue. The first was an elderly woman who remembered muttering 'thank god' after the Bartarian carrying her was killed only to hear someone yell back,

'I'm not a god and they don't exist anyway!'

The second witness gave a full interview to The Star Chronicle two days later.

 _"_ _I 'member... running, running a lot, I can run real fast," Says Talitha, age six, "Then the bad pirate grabbed me, picked me up. I tried to kick him but it didn't do anything. The Pirate carried me towards their big ship, then he fell over, I didn't see what happened to him but I had lots of mud and red and purple stuff on me after. I got up ran... then I ran into the giant. He used to go to my school. Some kids said he was a monster who lived in a cave in his garden but just I thought he was really, really big. I told him;_

 _"_ _I remember you"_

 _He looked at me and asked if I was hurt. I said no. He looked confused and kept looking round until he saw a big box, then patted me on the head and said 'Hide there, stay quiet and wait'. I waited for a long, long time until the big soldiers arrived. They found mommy and daddy for me._

 _The mother of the squirming girl lets her daughter off her lap and adds,_

 _"_ _My husband and I had been captured before Talitha ran off, both of us were unconscious. I think the Pirate that caught us must have been the same one that grabbed her. If he hadn't come along...well I don't want to think about it._

 _"_ _What do want to say to Alexander Shepard?"_

 _Before she can answer Talitha runs back._

 _"_ _I want give to him my picture," says the girl "It's of him and me. I hope he remembers me."_

The battle lasted for three standard hours and ended with the arrival of the Systems Alliance relief fleet. The Pirates, by this point in full retreat, found themselves cornered. Some attempted to flee, only to end up being bombarded by the Fleet. Most of the remaining forces surrendered. The Alliance ground forces, surprised by the swift victory but still wary of a trap slowly advanced into the colony.

As for the colonists they were completely unaware of what was happening. Outside communication had been jammed by the attackers. All they knew was what they could see from their firing positions. The attack had been swift, but it was disorganised, then it seemed to falter, then only an eerie silence. Multiple survivors recorded that for nearly an hour after the last shot was fired no seemed to speak, the only sounds came from breathing as they waited and listened. A lookout then saw a towering shadow emerge from the smoke. Alexander Shepard, clutching the empty, heavily dented shotgun and with a dozen bullet wounds slowly moved forward. He knocked on the Safe House door, announced the battle was over and, in true testimony to his Anglo-Indian upbringing, asked if there was any Tea.

Before anyone could stop her Indira Shepard who, as her husband noted later had been coping with their son being missing by targeting every pirate she saw with an assault rifle, leapt out of the door. She took one look at her son and embraced him in a bear hug (despite only being tall enough to reach his stomach) and berated him for causing her so much worry. As the wounded boy was sat down, given a large mug of Tea and Dr Lang began treating his wounds he found himself surrounded by curious colonists demanding to know what happened. Shepard later said that the battle was easier than trying to answer everyone at once. By the time he had finished Alliance ground forces arrived on the scene.

The first soldier to reach the Safe House was one Lt. Zabaleta. In his post-action report he explained:

 _None of us knew what to think as we passed through the colony. We all expected the worst; the kind of things that haunt your dreams for years. Instead we found dead Pirates littering the ground and colonists hiding everywhere, all saying to same thing. That someone had had rescued them in the nick of time and stopped the raid. By the time we reached the Safe House we were completely baffled, once we got inside and asked what the hell happened all eyes turned to this giant in the corner, who looked at us and sighed. I reckon he'd just finished his story and realised he'd have to start again._

That the colony survived was remarkable enough but in the aftermath it was discovered that not a single colonist had died or been permanently captured. Alexander Shepard had, not for the first or indeed last time, achieved the impossible.

Entire books have been written on this incident alone with historians and biographers arguing back and forth over its' significance. The popular interpretation of Shepard's action however can be summed up by a quote from one of the surviving colonists some years later and would end up engraved on the monument in Mindoir's Victory Square. It is poetically but succulently described as: 'The stone that started an avalanche.'

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In the aftermath of the raid Alexander Sheperd was invited to Earth by all sorts of groups, eager to meet him for all sorts of reasons. After some weeks of negotiation (which included his mother insisting that he got a haircut, so he 'looked less like some kind of feral wolf') Shepard agreed to go. Whatever plans he, or anyone else had went almost immediately awry when the Saviour of Mindoir, as many called him at the time, had his rucksack snatched outside the spaceport. Recordings of the incident show Shepard looking stunned for a full thirty seconds before pursuing the thief. However the thief, like so many others gravely underestimated his speed. Alexander cornered the thief and picked her up by the throat. He asked her in a calm, level voice who she was.

The scrawny red headed girl replied without a trace of fear,

"I'm Shepard."

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End file.
